In San Antonio one evening, I took a walk over to the Alamo with my new tripod, intending on getting some night shots. Right after I walked out of the hotel, a group walked out of a door as I passed. They were young and had backpacks. My first thought was they were backpacking across the country, or something like that. As they fell in with me, and walking the same direction, we began to talk. There were five of them, one a girl, and three puppies.

It turned out that they were train jumpers, modern day hobos, living life riding the rails from place to place. “Turtle” appeared to be the oldest at 30. I think their previous stop was Houston. They had only been together for a short time. I got the feeling that their grouping was sort of random and for convenience. I told them what I was up to.

We kept walking together for the short walk to the Alamo and upon arrival, they asked where I wanted them to set up. For a photo, of course. But although I had thought about it, I never asked to take their picture. We set up, and I took some shots. They were very gracious. The didn’t seem to have phones or email addresses - so the photo was never shared with them. Although I knew they were probably living on handouts, they didn’t ask for money. But I offered a $20 dollar bill and Turtle assured me that he would be sure to split it with them all.

She always remembered exactly how long they’s been together, and of course, he never did. And now they’ve been going on so long that she didn’t quite remember anymore either. And lots of time now, together, neither of them had a lot to say, but that was ok. It was in a manner that folks who know each other very well don’t feel awkward with silence. Certainly way less than when they were young and in a hurry.

He didn’t exactly know their years, but he knew it was a long time, and that he’d been a long time. He was slowing down. But he knew that was just the way it was, and that was ok. No hurry.

Somehow we got the idea that we’d go camping on the beach…

Of course the relentless southeast wind, high humidity and warm nights along the Texas coast were not taken into consideration! I don’t remember, but it is highly likely that alcohol was involved.

The car helped a bit in blocking the wind, but it was a miserable night.